Have you seen Ghost in the Shell? Not 2017 action movie, but 1995 original anime. You definitely should, it’s a cyberpunk masterpiece.
I’m a big GitS fan and the first time I visited Hong Kong, it caught my eye how similar Hong Kong looks and feels to the city in the original Ghost in the shell. It turned out, this similarity is not a coincidence: director Mamoru Oshii actually based the setting for Ghost in the Shell on Hong Kong.
There is a video, showing similarities between actual Hong Kong and the futuristic city of Ghost in the Shell.
Let’s walk rainy Hong Kong streets and talk about cyberpunk works.
Do you like washed-out neon signs? A film noir legacy, that became one of the staples of cyberpunk aesthetics.
There is a New Lucky House building in the Jordan area of Kowloon peninsula, which looks so surreal, it feels more like a decoration from The Crow than GitS.
And I feel shame for the dutch angle of this shot.
There was a chase scene on the market in the beginning of GitS. Walking these market streets feels like you became part of that scene.
And sometimes you think “Oh, I saw this shopping street in GitS!”
Ok, you have this feeling most of the time while walking rainy Hong Kong streets.
Those lights reflections on a wet road always look amazing.
Even dark alleys and side streets have their charm in Hong Kong.
You can find more of it in Hong Kong Alleyways article.
In Hong Kong Central you always feel corporations are nearby.
My childhood dreams came true - the future from the 80s and 90s dark sci-fi became our reality.
If you read till this place, here is another video with GitS vibe in Hong Kong, this time night one.